Chief Engineer, Advanced Effects

Slope; Costa Mesa (CA); On-site; USD 220,000 - 292,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity grants

Benefits package

Job summary

Anduril Industries seeks a senior leader to own the technical development of large unmanned aircraft from concept to production and sustainment. You will define vehicle layout, propulsion, guidance, payload integration, and test programs, while building and leading cross‑disciplinary teams to deliver high‑value DoD capabilities.

The role requires senior experience, DOD context, and willingness to travel up to 50% to customer sites and test locations, with a strong emphasis on strategic direction

Qualifications

• Deep understanding of unmanned aircraft at and above Group 3 class.
• Bachelor’s degree in relevant engineering or equivalent experience.
• Experience in a senior role leading air vehicle programs from concept to customer delivery.
• Experience driving strategic direction in competitive landscapes under tight constraints.
• Proven ability to deliver functional capabilities aligned with programmatic outcomes.
• Demonstrated collaboration with internal and external stakeholders.
• Experience with mission-critical DoD systems and remotely deployed systems.
• Willingness to travel up to 50% to customer and test sites.

Responsibilities

• Lead technical and programmatic execution of air vehicle systems design, fabrication, test, productization and sustainment.
• Own the technical and programmatic success of programs; assemble teams and communicate vision.
• Set up trades to explore early designs with SMEs and Business Development to address gaps in DoD capability.
• Manage detailed system design including requirements, trades, risk management, schedules and costs.
• Coordinate prototype fabrication and subsystem testing campaigns.
• Support remotely deployed operations of systems.
• Ensure resource plans align with work scope with senior leadership.

Skills

Unmanned aircraft leadership

Program management

System optimization

Cross-functional collaboration

Strategic direction

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace/Mechanical/Electrical/Software engineering

Job description

Anduril Industries is a defense technology company with a mission to transform U.S. and allied military capabilities with advanced technology. By bringing the expertise, technology, and business model of the 21st century’s most innovative companies to the defense industry, Anduril is changing how military systems are designed, built and sold. Anduril’s family of systems is powered by Lattice OS, an AI-powered operating system that turns thousands of data streams into a realtime, 3D command and control center. As the world enters an era of strategic competition, Anduril is committed to bringing cutting‑edge autonomy, AI, computer vision, sensor fusion, and networking technology to the military in months, not years.

Air Dominance and Strike (AD&S) Chief Engineering Team is a driving force behind the technical execution and strategic vision of our most critical programs. They are responsible for architecting a vision for product development and guiding multi‑disciplinary teams to deliver effectively. They are expected to own the mission and to be deeply involved in building the eco‑system that enables execution.

ABOUT THE JOB

You’ll own the technical development of large aircraft from white paper sketches and conceptual design through detailed design, build, flight test, transition to production, and sustainment. This includes vehicle layout and conceptual design, airframe and propulsion system design and integration, guidance section development, payload and datalink integration, fabrication and flight test. These projects will be diverse in nature and require you to leverage your technical expertise as well as leadership skills to set objectives, build a team, and drive to completion. The ability to leverage your intuition and prior experience in programmatic level decision will play a key component in making sure the right design/analysis/ and test steps are being completed to ensure success without simply completing steps for the sake of the process that don’t add value. The ideal candidate will leverage their experience executing and successfully completing prior highly optimized multi‑disciplinary projects.

WHAT YOU'LL DO:

• Lead technical and programmatic execution of new and existing air vehicle systems design, fabrication, test, productization and sustainment.
• Own the technical and programmatic success of your programs, establish technical and programmatic vision assemble teams of internal and external subject matter experts, and communicate that vision to them.
• Set up trades to enable the exploration of early conceptual designs while working closely with technical SME’s and Business Development teams to find the right solution to current and future gaps in the DOD capability to ensure the warfighter has the best solution for current and future conflicts.
• Manage the detailed design of the system and subsystems, including requirements development, sub‑system trades and optimization, risk management, etc., to ensure the appropriate consideration of design key performance parameters, schedule, costs and risks.
• Coordinate the fabrication of prototype and low‑rate production articles and subsystem/system level test efforts.
• Support remotely deployed operations of your systems.
• Work with senior leadership to ensure resource plans are adequate for work scope.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Deep understanding of unmanned aircraft at and above Group 3 class
• Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace, Mechanical, Electrical or Software engineering, or equivalent experience in a relevant field.
• Experience in a senior role leading air vehicle programs from initial concept through test and delivery to customers
• Experience driving strategic direction in competitive landscapes, solving complex system optimization challenges under tight constraints.
• Proven ability to deliver functional capabilities while aligning technical objectives with programmatic outcomes.
• Demonstrated collaboration and partnerships with internal and external stakeholders
• Strong understanding of the “why” behind Vehicle and Systems design.
• Experience working on mission critical DOD systems
• Experience troubleshooting and analyzing remotely deployed systems.
• Travel up to 50% to Customer and Test Sites
• Eligible to obtain and maintain an active U.S. Secret security clearance

US Salary Range: $220,000 — $292,000 USD

The salary range for this role is an estimate based on a wide range of compensation factors, inclusive of base salary only. Actual salary offer may vary based on (but not limited to) work experience, education and/or training, critical skills, and/or business considerations. Highly competitive equity grants are included in the majority of full time offers; and are considered part of Anduril's total compensation package. Additionally, Anduril offers top‑tier benefits for full‑time employees, including:

Benefits

At Anduril, we invest in our people. Our comprehensive, competitive benefits package (available at little to no cost to employees) ensures you’re supported in health, recovery, and whatever comes next. For more information, Explore Our Benefits.